When the City of Newport Beach began conceiving a new civic center, the planners envisioned not just a building but a new civic heart for the community.
The resulting design of the Newport Beach Civic Center and Park meets that goal.
The $130 million project in Newport Center, which wrapped up in May, includes the 88,000-square-foot city hall with an attached 12,000-square-foot community center, a 14-acre park, an expanded central library and a 450-space parking structure.
Humane Modernism
The glass-walled civic center on Avocado Avenue follows the natural upslope of the hillside behind it, which leads to the park above by way of a landscape of plants native to California.
The library sits at one end of the structure, which is flanked on its other end by the community center for public gatherings.
Planners incorporated natural elements throughout the project.
A covered outdoor terrace separates the community center from the City Council chambers. And a long grassy lawn between the City Hall and the tree-screened parking structure creates a restful, inviting view down the facility’s length.
City officials made sure the project incorporated nautical elements and materials. The civic center’s roof mimics the nearby Pacific with its undulating white plastic “waves.” A decorative mainsail piece outside the council chambers billows in a fair wind.
The long, narrow, 20-acre site challenged architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in its design, which it approached from a humane-modernism point of view, said Steven Chaitow, a firm principal and project manager. He said modernism’s ambitions can be cold and clinical, losing humanity to efficiency.
This design is more people-oriented, and the glass walls are symbolic.
“What is being represented here is a 21st-century civic vision of transparency,” Chaitow said, “with the focus on the citizen-user.”
The vision is clear from the moment a visitor enters the parking structure, where overhead banners direct them toward city departments. Walkways cross the lawn and lead to the departments beyond the glass walls.
It really is that simple: All departments for public services are on the lawn side and easily accessible. No need to navigate a grand lobby.
Chaitow also has LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and he put his knowledge of environmental benefits to use here.
Inside, the building is light and airy. Natural light flows through the glass walls, covered on the interior, public side with automated blinds that lift and lower according to the sun’s cycle. Outside, the undulating roof helps direct air currents through the facility. Clerestory windows on the north rim of the structure are programmed to automatically open and close according to the weather.
The maritime theme shows in natural hemlock wood slats supporting the roof; maple veneer on movable desks; and a color scheme of blues and greens in the work bays—surprisingly separated by vivid yellows on the corridor walls between the bays.
The architects also applied their people-oriented approach to other aspects of the design, notably a real-time display and control of the building’s energy usage, and low-water landscaping on the grounds and throughout the park.
The park provides more than a mile of walking trails and a dog park as it extends from the civic center through wetlands and up and over a pedestrian bridge spanning San Miguel Drive.
Stephen Badum, assistant city manager for Newport Beach, said a community design team chose Bohlin Cywinski Jackson from among 50 applicants based on how well it adhered to the team’s design parameters, which included an open-space area; preservation of neighbors’ view of the harbor and ocean; an energy-efficient building design; connection to the library and the park; and sufficient parking.
Chaitow said the firm pursued the contract partly for the challenge of the odd-sized site, a “skinny dog bone” split by a multilane street and featuring a big mound of earth that in some cases got in the way of neighbors’ view.
Workers excavated the mound before construction could begin.
Discontent
The project has drawn its fair share of critics.
Some neighbors have complained about excessive glare from the lighted sail, 24-hour lighting inside the building and in the parking structure, and from new traffic signals.
Badum said the city addressed the complaints by programming the building systems for lights off at 9:30 p.m., significantly reducing the sail light’s wattage, and installing shades to partially cover traffic lights and parking lights.
Others have complained about the project’s cost. Badum and Chaitow stress that “a good design is good business” and presents an appealing place to conduct city affairs—an advantage to visitors and employees alike. A good design can improve the bottom line, they say, creating a healthy, enjoyable environment for workers and the public.
Part of the costs came in materials selected for their long life: high-quality stainless steel, durable paint and protective coatings for metal elements.
The wavy roof and the sail are made of tough, weather-resistant plastic, a cost-effective choice.
On my way to tour the civic center for this article, I stopped on the Harbor View hill above the project to take a photo and found that the parking structure somewhat marred that view. A resident of Harbor View was there, too, looking down on the civic center and park.
“Do you like it?” I asked.
She replied, “I love it.”
